Nexus 6: Who Will Manufacture Google’s Next Phone?

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s forthcoming Nexus 6 smartphone has been subject of a lot of rumors in the past few weeks. Some leaks claim that the search engine giant will drop the name Nexus 6 in favor of Nexus X. Others indicate that Google will unveil the Nexus 6 quietly rather than holding a mega-event to announce the device.

But who will manufacture the new Nexus this time? In the past, Samsung, HTC (OCTB:HTCKF) and LG have manufactured it for Google. But reports suggest that this year a new company will be manufacturing Nexus 6. There are rumors that Google will stick to LG Electronics for the third year. LG was responsible for Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 in 2012 and 2013. However, all signs right now point to Motorola, the same company that Google sold earlier this year to Lenovo Group Ltd. (OTCPINK:LNVGY) (HKG:0992).

Google may indeed name the Nexus 6 as Nexus X because novelist Philip K. Dick’s family owns copyrights to the name “Nexus 6.” In fact, the device recently surfaced on retailer Best Buy’s website under the name Nexus X. The Best Buy listing showed its price as $499.99 on a two-year contract. Last month, Google’s new phone (code named Shamu) reached India for demo purposes. The device is expected to be unveiled officially on Halloween, October 31.

Nexus 6 (Nexus X) is expected to feature a 5.2-inch Quad HD display with 1440×2560 pixel resolution. It will have a powerful 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 chipset, Adreno 420 GPU and 3GB RAM. Nexus smartphones always get the newest Android OS. So, the Nexus 6 is most likely to run Android L. Google’s next phone is rumored to have 13-megapixel main snapper and 2.1-megapixel front camera.

If Google indeed launches the Nexus 6 on October 31, it will face tough challenges from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s big screen iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which witnessed solid pre-orders on Friday. Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 4, which will hit the markets in October, will also pose a serious threat to Nexus 6.